Summary
While twoEvil Deadspinoff movies are already in the works, there’s a former franchise character who still deserves a big-screen return in a future sequel.Sam Raimi’sEvil Deadfranchiserose to prominence in the 1980s following Ash Williams (Bruce Campbell) in various campy confrontations with undead creatures known as “Deadites,” who are summoned from cursed books referred to as the Necronomicon. Campbell’s Ash Williams led all three entries in Sam Raimi’s original trilogy,The Evil Dead(1981),Evil Dead II(1987), andArmy of Darkness(1992), but whenthe franchise was rebooted in 2013 and again in 2023, new characters took on Ash’s groovy Deadite-fighting role.
Even after Sam Raimi stepped down from his directorial slot in theEvil Dead, thefranchise has continued to enjoy substantial success both with critics and at the box office. In addition to Bruce Campbell’s three-season TV showAsh vs. Evil Deadholding an impressive 99% score on Rotten Tomatoes, Fede Alvarez’sEvil Dead(2013) received moderate critical success with a 63% score but a solid $97.5 million box office run, and Lee Cronin’sEvil Dead Rise(2023) holds a great 84% Rotten Tomatoes score with a $147 million box office run. With moreEvil Deadspinoffsalready in development after the horror franchise’s longstanding success, there’s one character who is rightfully due another movie after her underrated outing.
Beth
Lily Sullivan
While Ash Williams is certainly the most iconic and beloved character of theEvil Deadfranchise, he isn’t the one who is most in need of another sequel movie outing. Rather, that goes toJane Levy’s Mia, who led Fede Alvarez’sEvil Deadstandalone sequel/rebootin 2013.Evil Deadwas a box office hit, but was sadly underrated among critics and general audiences, leaving it to largely be forgotten about until the franchise hit the big screen again in 2023 with anew cast and characters inEvil Dead Rise.
Evil Dead(2013) is available to stream on Max.
Ash and Beth are both worthy leads for anotherEvil Deadmovie, but I stand by the idea that Jane Levy was robbed of another chance to prove why Mia is an equally compelling protagonist. In fact, there were even ideas for an Ash and Mia crossover movie after the success of 2013’sEvil Dead, but this sequel never came to fruition. Still, this would have partially implied that Mia would need Ash alongside her in order to have another shot at a big sequel movie, butEvil Dead Rise’s standalone sequel acclaim tells me that Mia could lead another movie just fine on her own.
Ash, Mia & Beth Vs. Evil Dead: New Necronomicon Sets Up Massive Crossover
Following the gruesome events of Evil Dead Rise, the prospect of a franchise-spanning Evil Dead team-up makes a lot of sense.
Mia has far more story left to tell
Any time Bruce Campbell appears on-screen in a Sam Raimi-directed or produced movie, I’m all for it. Ash Williams is still one of my favorite horror protagonists to this day, but I don’t think he’s the returningEvil Deadcharacter that is in the most need of a sequel.Ash had an incredible sequel series and ending inAsh vs. Evil Dead, so while I would still love to seeBruce Campbell make a cameo as Ash or – like inEvil Dead Rise– a priest on a recording, there are other characters whose stories should be revisited first.
Evil Dead Rise Gives Ash Williams An Unlimited Future Despite Bruce Campbell’s Character Retirement
Even though Bruce Campbell retired Evil Dead’s Ash Williams, his cameo in Evil Dead Rise gives the horror franchise hero unlimited future potential.
High among these is Jane Levy’s Mia, whose future at the end ofEvil Dead(2013) was just as limitless as Ash’s in, well,every precedingEvil Deadmovie. It’s now been over a decade since Mia walked away from the cabin, and I still find myself contemplating the possibilities of what happened to the Naturom Demonto she left intact, what the aftermath was for her when she returned to civilization, and whether another poor soul spoke the incantation to unleash more Deadites from that book. Even more so than Ash, I alsowonder whether Mia thought to track downEvil Dead Rise’s Bethafter hearing about what happened in Los Angeles in 2023.
